Three days later, Fang Yuan, Zhu Cihuan, and Wang Chengen went directly to the cabinet located in the north of Suzhou and met the three members of the current cabinet, Wang Bingjian, Xi Benzhen, and Mao Bijiang.

Fang originally ordered the cabinet to vote to allocate 2 million taels to rebuild the three places in order to restore the livelihood of the people in Nanjing, Yangzhou, and Chizhou, and also exempted the three places from taxes for one year.

It was a matter of the people's livelihood in the three places, and the three members of the cabinet immediately followed his order and made a vote.

Fang Yuan handled the daily government affairs, and explained his intention straight to the point, that is, to establish Zhu Cihuan as the prince of Jiangnan, lead the regent himself, play the banner of the Qing monarch's side, and draw a clear line with the imperial court in the capital.

The three of them looked at each other when they heard this, although they also vaguely got the rumor that Fang Yuan was going to reorganize the Jiangnan regime, but the action was so fast, and it was only two months after the war that they started to do it, which was still beyond the expectations of the three of them.

Wang Bingjian said with a sad face, "Governor Fang, this, the so-called great world is not the king's land, and the army that leads the land is not the king's ministers." Governor Fang's move is to set up another court in the south of the Yangtze River, I am afraid that it will cause criticism in the world! ”

Wang Bingjian was the first official in the Jiangnan and Beijing provinces to enter the cabinet, and he was the most supportive of Fang Yuan's work.

Zhu Cihuan said loudly, "Empress Zhou and the prince of Jianguo cooperated with the cabinet to put my father under house arrest, and they started military disasters without permission, making the people of Jiangnan miserable. Governor Fang's move is nothing more than a crime of hanging the people, punishing the ministers, and restoring the orthodoxy of the Ming Dynasty! ”

Wang Chengen had long been looking at Fang Yuan's Northern Expedition to the capital, rescued Emperor Chongzhen who was under house arrest, and hurriedly took out the edict left to him by Emperor Chongzhen for the three of them to circulate.

The three of them reviewed the edict one by one, and the edict did clearly state that the prince of the prison state usurped the government, and all the edicts that did not conform to the edict were all overkill.

Wang Bingjian was silent for a while, and then said, "Governor Fang, Lord Wang, we are all people who understand, and we won't talk to you when we close the door." His Majesty is under house arrest, and that is known to the whole world. On the side of Qingjun, from a general point of view, it should indeed be taken seriously. But in essence, it is just a slogan, whether it can clear the monarch's side depends not on morality, but on the strength of both sides. ”

"Today's imperial court is still the co-lord of the world, still sitting on the land of three or four provinces, and there is the support of other Zhu Ming royal vassal kings. And Governor Fang, although he had just occupied Fujian and won the battle to defend Nanzhili, was struggling to defend it after all. Moreover, on the side of Governor Fang's couch, there were not only Sun Chuanting's 150,000 elite Ming troops in Shandong, but also Zuo Liangyu's 300,000 or 400,000 bandit troops. In terms of strength comparison, Jiangnan is not optimistic about Governor Fang. ”

"The officials of the various prefectures, in their hearts, are just mixed up like this. When Governor Fang is here, he accepts the rule of Governor Fang. Another day, the imperial court came to rule, and immediately returned to the throne, and was unwilling to choose a side. At this moment, Governor Fang wanted to force them to stand in line, but even if they were happy, they were probably not convinced. ”

Wang Bingjian said a lot at length, and Fang Yuan had to admit that there was still some truth. Fang Yuan had only been based in Jiangnan for five years, and the Ming court had ruled for three hundred years, so in terms of ruling inertia, it was fortunate that they did not take the opportunity to make trouble, and there was no need to expect them to stand on Fang Yuan's side.

In the history books, it is about morality, but in reality, it is usually about strength and interests. You can't take the country by virtue of morality, but after you seize the country, there will naturally be a large group of rotten Confucians to find out the moral basis for you.

Eighty percent of those officials can't be counted on, and it is even more difficult to make them loosen, and it is even more difficult to convince them of support.

Fang Yuan looked at Xi Benzhen again and asked, "Master Xi, what does the business association think?" ”

Xi Benzhen said solemnly, "Governor Fang, if the officials still have a morality, the businessmen are profit-seeking and not righteous. The merchant gang of the business association will not care about the righteousness of the family and the country, nor will they care about who wins or loses between the governor of Fang and the imperial court, as long as it does not affect their business. ”

"Governor Fang wants to go north to the capital, and the business association will inevitably oppose it. First, as soon as the war began, the trade routes to the north were cut off, which would affect the business of the major merchant gangs. In particular, the Shanshan Merchant Gang, the Hui Merchant Gang, and the Jinling Merchant Gang, which often trade with the north; Second, as soon as the war starts, it is inevitable that they will need to collect military funds and recruit people, and these big merchant gangs will also have a headache. If the war is defeated, it will bring disasters to Jiangnan, and it is naturally better to have more than one thing; Third, as a merchant gang that has been rooted in Jiangnan for hundreds of years, my Dongting merchant gang does not approve of pouring the strength of Jiangnan into the Northern Expedition, wasting manpower and material resources in Jiangnan to clean up the mess in the north. ”

Fang Yuan nodded silently, Xi Benzhen's attitude actually represented the attitude of most of the wealthy families and wealthy businessmen in Jiangnan. For them, the most advantageous thing is that nominally within the framework of the Ming Dynasty, the south and the north go their separate ways and do not interfere with each other, and the rich Jiangnan is unwilling to live in partnership with the poor north.

Fang Yuan's southern expedition to Fujian was to open up a channel for overseas trade for wealthy merchants in the south of the Yangtze River, eliminate pirate groups like Zheng Zhilong, and also reduce a blackmail fee. Therefore, there was naturally no opposition from the merchant gang in the southern expedition to Fujian, and even these merchant gangs were willing to take out the silver to buy war bonds and support Fang Yuan's southern expedition.

But the Northern Expedition is two completely different concepts, and the most important thing for commercial trade is a peaceful trade environment.

If Fang Yuan and the northern court lived in harmony, everyone would be within the framework of the Ming Dynasty, and both the customs duties and the commercial taxes paid for trade with the north would be very limited. If the two sides become two opposing regimes, then even if the northern court does not close the trade routes, it will increase taxes, which is extremely unfavorable for the trade of these wealthy merchants.

Xi Benzhen said clearly and bluntly that the wealthy merchants in Jiangnan would not support Fang Yuan to draw a clear line with the northern imperial court, or even send troops to the Northern Expedition.

Wang Bingjian, the representative of the official gentry, and Xi Benzhen, the representative of the wealthy merchants, did not approve of Fang Yuan's plan to set up a separate imperial court in the south of the Yangtze River, play the banner of the Qing monarch's side, and draw a clear line with the imperial court in the capital.

Fang Yuan's gaze fell on Mao Bijiang's body again, and asked, "Mr. Mao, you can tell me." ”

Mao Bijiang is a straight person, plus Fang Yuan was originally kind, and he didn't make a detour with Fang Yuan, and said bluntly, "Governor Fang, if you set up another court in Jiangnan, it will inevitably cause an uproar in Jiangnan, and the literati in Jiangnan will scold, march again, and even come to the Governor's Mansion to sit-in and demonstrate." ”

Fang Yuan didn't believe in his heart that these literati would be so loyal to the Ming Dynasty. I think that back then, if the Manchu Qing Dynasty hadn't put forward the national policy of shaving their heads, they would have decided to spread the word to Jiangnan. After that, the Eight-Nation Coalition Army invaded the city of Beijing, and tens of thousands of literati also went to consult the commander of the Coalition Army, Wadsey, whether the Eight-Nation Coalition Army would open the imperial examination.

In order to maintain the rule of the capital, after the opening of the list of scholars, a large group of literati really went to the imperial examination of the coalition army, and found a large number of Manchu and corrupt Manchu Qing corruption from the Four Books and Five Classics, and the legal basis for the coalition army to rule China.

Fang Yuan smiled and said, "Do these literati support Da Ming so much? Is Mr. Mao a bit alarmist? ”

Mao Bijiang Zhengrong said, "Governor Fang, I am not alarmist. Those literati in Jiangnan are sour, and their careers are unwilling, so they are caught and scolded. If you have something to scold, you want to scold if you don't have a head. Those who don't scold Governor Fang for ruling like this, how can the officials show the superiority of all of them who are drunk and sober? How to pretend to be clear and different in front of the literati passage and the red face of the green building? ”

"So, Governor Fang rules Jiangnan, they will scold; If the court rules again, they will also scold. Governor Fang's desire to oppose the imperial court in the capital is nothing more than to give them a ready-made opportunity to point fingers and guide the country, and they will inevitably rise up in groups to make trouble. ”

Although Mao Bijiang is also a literati, when he satirizes these literati, he hits the nail on the head and hits the nail on the head, Fang Yuan couldn't help but laugh when he heard it, "Hahaha! Mr. Mao said it well! The portrayal of those literati is in one sentence. ”

This dialogue with the cabinet has ended in a complete failure. The attitude of the three cabinet members was very unified, that is, to resist Fang Yuan's plan to set up another imperial court in Jiangnan.

The two sides were at a stalemate, and Fang Yuan's fingers fiddled with the stack of cabinet tickets on the table, silent. Wang Bingjian and the three of them were also silent, so they continued to consume with Fang Yuan.

There was an embarrassing silence at the scene, and a pin drop could be heard.